Dr. Brain

Brilliant sci-fi suspense drama which takes elements of supernatural, super-hero, crime-thriller, horror and martial-arts genres and mixes them together Korean style to form a punchy, addictive and at times emotionally exhausting piece of television.

The series takes you on a six episode journey with the main character 'Dr Brain' as he develops from spineless and emotionless super-geek to courageous, fully-enlightened hero, at the same time blasting through almost every ethical no-no in order to save his family.

I think as westerners we sometimes find it hard to accept just how good Korean filmmaking is. Dr Brain is no exception and has top-notch cinematography, great acting and almost perfect scene construction from the first frame to the last. Sure, the Korean formula of heavy suspense, intense dialogue and a healthy dose of blood-splattering violence in every episode is not to everyone's taste but as we've discovered with the like of Parasite and Squid Game it's a formula which, once tuned in to, awakens your emotions and leaves you feeling you've really watched something.

I watched this in Korean with subtitles along with my 15 year old daughter and we gasped in disbelief as ethics evaporated, gleefully wished a painful, bloody come-uppance on the villains, clawed in despair at the Korean police failing to keep up with the protagonists and giggled incessantly at Dr Brain's side-kick whose exasperated reactions reinforce just how bonkers Dr Brain's actions are.

FWIW we accidentally watched 5mins of one of the episodes with the imbecilic English voice-over ... hilarious ... but no, don't even go there.

Highly recommend, in Korean with subtitles all the way!

Terrible pacing. Storyline is not succinct in any way. Lens flare during every "happy" scene is played out. Man supposed to feel no empathy at times absolutely does. Feels as though they had an idea, execution is forced and insists upon itself.

Look.. i liked it even thou its nothing new, and it dares to impress you, but its done in such a manner that it reminds you of one of those black mirror episodes but for grown-ups, that truly shines only if you give it some time.

Two episodes in now and it's very good. I'm a big fan of the director's other work and it has his usual flair. It is sort a mad scientist mystery. It has elements of The Fly (the scientist experimenting on himself, perhaps later to be his downfall?) as well as Sixth Sense and Memento - he is trying to solve a mystery but as he experiments more on himself to put the pieces together, it becomes harder to be certain what is real and what is not.

A very strong start and I have absolutely no idea where it is going and can not wait to find out. Highly recommended.

Korean Drama "Dr. Brain" is a masterful sci-fi thriller that provides a solid mystery.

What Dr. Brain offers is a suspenseful plot that keeps the audience hooked till the very last minute. With intense performances to boot, a mystery that is slowly being unfolded, an interesting sci-fi element, and engaging characters, the drama creates the right atmosphere, with dark shades that come close to the horror element at times.

However, the CGI were bad and almost ruined the mood at times. The horror, flashy scenes were also a bit overused and nearly shifted the focus from the character based mystery to a psychological thriller.

Still, the ending was brilliant, leaving it to the viewer to interpret what actually happened.

So, overall, 8 out of 10.